Results of the innovative two-way bilingual program instituted at Manson Elementary School show that both English- and Spanish-speaking children are improving their basic skills to a remarkable degree -- mirroring data gathered at other sites across the country.

The program in Manson began last year with one kindergarten class, comprised of 20 children evenly split between native English and native Spanish speakers. The classes alternate -- one day in Spanish, the next day in English -- so that all children become bilingual. Art, reading, math and all other classes are all taught in the language of the day.

English-speaking parents typically selected the optional program because they felt their children would have an advantage in later life by being bilingual. Learning a foreign language at such an early age allows children to become essentially native speakers, with little if any accent.

However, initial data being gathered at Manson Elementary appears to be confirming research conducted by George Mason University in Virginia, which studied more than 42,000 children and found that by high school, students in such programs outperformed other students by two grade levels in both reading and writing.

The teacher of the initial two-way bilingual kindergarten class in Manson, Tami Dewey, says students by the end of the year were more advanced in their core skills than other kindergartners she has taught. But she admits that when she first accepted the assignment, she was probably the most opposed to the concept of all the teachers. Not anymore.

"One of my concerns, going into the program, was that the children would suffer academically. But that wasn't the case at all. Last year, academically, my class came out much, much higher than any of my previous classes," says Mrs. Dewey, whose eight years of teaching includes six in kindergarten.

Mrs. Dewey felt the first year's program went as well as could be expected, considering that she had received relatively little training -- comprised primarily of a few days observing a two-way bilingual class in Portland.

But she is also really excited about improvements made to the program this year -- particularly the change of the program from five half days to four full days each week.

"The kids last year did really well, but this year I've already noticed a huge change by being here all day," she says.

Unlike remedial-type ESL classes offered at most schools, the two-way immersion takes a gifted-education approach, teaching all students to be bilingual.

Mrs. Dewey, who is certified to teach Spanish, was assisted in the class by native Spanish-speaking paraprofessional Yazmin Gil.

Parents made a choice as to whether to place their children in the bilingual program or in a traditional classroom. They had just enough native English speakers last year to balance the class, but Manson school officials think there will now be a growing waiting list as parents gain an understanding of how students benefit from the dual-language program.

Cheryl Koenig, the district's bilingual specialist and Title VII grant coordinator, says, by the end of last year's program, "The parents were very positive. They were a little surprised at the progress that was made, especially by the English speakers."

The teacher of Manson's new dual-language first grade, Sheri LaMar, says she "loves" the new program. "I'm really excited about it." She notes "a lot of camaraderie in this group. … They're not always exactly understanding, but they figure out what's going on, and they help each other out more."

Superintendent Steve McKenna says the Manson Elementary students are very motivated. "Our kids are very excited about learning a second language. … The kids are proud of the fact that they're learning something their parents don't know or that their older brothers and sisters don't know."

Not one student dropped out of the Manson program last year. In fact, as the first year's group advances to first grade, six new students have been allowed to enter the class. One of the challenges of the program is to determine if and when children can be added to such a class after kindergarten.

When asked which days they preferred -- the English-speaking days or the Spanish-speaking days -- the English speaking students at Manson voted for Spanish and the Spanish speakers voted for English.

The Manson Elementary, located near the north shore of Lake Chelan, was particularly suited for this program. Twenty years ago there were only five Hispanic students enrolled in Manson Elementary. Now, 66 percent of Manson's 350 grade-schoolers are primarily Spanish-speaking.

Mrs. Koenig, the district's bilingual specialist, began investigating the dual-language approach, along with the school board, about seven or eight years ago. They read lots of research, went to special conferences, and visited other schools using the program in Oregon and California.

"There exist as many different models as you can think of," she says. "It's a much more complex issue than I ever thought it would be. I never thought it would take four or five years to get going."

Manson's initial dual-language kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Dewey, says her main frustrations were (1) lack of training in how to run a dual-language program and (2) lack of good visual aids in Spanish. She ended up having to create a lot more of the Spanish visual aids herself.

An initial planning grant was secured from the U.S. Department of Education three years ago, with the implementation proposal accepted in April 2000. This year, last year's kindergarten class has advanced to create a dual-language first grade, and a new dual-language kindergarten has begun. This process will continue until there is at least one two-way bilingual class at every grade level in the K-6 elementary school.

The Manson school plans to send all of its teachers to special dual-language training -- even those who may never teach such a class -- just so they better understand how the program works.

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